It’s Time to Support Your Fellow Naz Students

How much really changes when you transition from high school to college?

Sure, you become more independent and have much more free time, but the “cliques” or the different “groups” never really go away.

From what I’ve heard, most people believe that Nazareth College has a great sense of support and community. People accept you for who you are, and you are free to be whoever you want thinking that the other students will support you. But how much of that statement is really true?

The truth is this: our “community” is separated, whether we believe this or not.

Between athletics, the art department, the music department, etc., there is a lack of support between the students. How many athletes attend a school musical? And how many art students attend athletic events? Although this does not hold true for all students, there is a thick line drawn between these different groups on campus.

The other day, I was sitting in class, and a theater student said, “Jocks and theater kids don’t mix.” As an athlete, this statement really bothered me. Just because I play sports doesn’t mean I’m not interested in attending theater or music events. It all made me question why these departments are so separated, and why there is such a lack of support throughout our college campus.

I can’t say I’ve ever been to a theater, music, or art event, but someday I would like to. I can say that there has been a huge lack of campus-wide support in terms of our athletic program, due to personal experience. When we travel to other schools, there are usually student sections. However, since I’ve been at Nazareth we haven’t had a solid student section for even our biggest home events.

As an athlete, I look forward to having a lot of student support at our games, but unfortunately this hasn’t been the case for the last two years that I’ve been here. We always try to come up with new ways to draw students into our games, but not much has worked. I’m sure the other departments struggle with this, too.

After speaking with several different students on this topic, I have come to the conclusion that there isn’t enough student support here at Naz, and that’s something that can and should be changed.

So, next time you’re bored with nothing to do, go to an event on campus! Start doing little things to support your fellow Nazareth students so that we can have a better sense of support and community!

speebles

I'm Sam Peebles and I am a communications and media major at Nazareth College of Rochester class of 2018. I'm originally from Syracuse, New York. I am a blogger for the Golden Gazette, and I'm a member of the Nazareth women's basketball team.